Jonathan Turley: The Bidens have always been in the business of influence peddling
Constitutional law attorney and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley argues on ‘America Reports’ that the ‘object’ of Hunter Biden’s ‘brand’ was Joe Biden.
FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Devon Archer confirmed in his appearance Monday that President Biden "lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved."
Comer’s comments come after Archer, a former business associate and longtime friend of Hunter Biden, sat for hours before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door hearing Monday.
DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED
Archer said that Hunter put his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times. Archer described how Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell "the brand."
Devon Archer, a former longtime business associate of Hunter Biden, is set to testify before Congress. (Fox News illustration/Getty Images )
"Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family," Comer said. "When Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States, he joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times."
"When Burisma’s owner was facing pressure from the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company for corruption, Archer testified that Burisma executives asked Hunter to ‘call D.C.’ after a Burisma board meeting in Dubai," Comer continued.
"Why did Joe Biden lie to the American people about his family’s business dealings and his involvement?" He asked. "It begs the question what else he is hiding from the American people."
Comer said the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability "will continue to follow the Bidens’ money trail and interview witnesses to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised and corrupt, and our national security is threatened."
Archer's attorney, Matthew L. Schwartz, the managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, released a statement Monday following his client's testimony.
US Representative and Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing regarding the criminal investigation into the Bidens, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
"We are aware that all sides are claiming victory following Mr. Archer’s voluntary interview today," Schwartz said. "But all Devon Archer did was exactly what we said he would: show up and answer the questions put to him honestly and completely."
Schwartz added: "Mr. Archer shared the truth with the Committee, and we will leave to them and others to decide what to do with it."
Comer detailed the "key takeaways" from Archer’s hours-long testimony Monday.
Archer, who served on the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings alongside Hunter beginning in 2014, told lawmakers that the value of adding Hunter to the board was to build the company’s "brand."
Archer, according to Comer, confirmed that then-Vice President Joe Biden was "the brand."
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, arrives at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Archer also testified that "Burisma would have gone out of business if ‘the brand’ had not been attached to it."
Archer said he believed that Hunter Biden being on the board and the "Biden brand" contributed to Burisma’s longevity, according to Comer’s office, and suggested that people would have been "intimidated to mess with Burisma legally because of the Biden brand."
HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'
Meanwhile, Archer testified about an interaction in December 2015, involving Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky and Vadym Pozharski—an executive at the firm.
Archer said Zlochevsky and Pozharski "placed constant pressure on Hunter Biden to get help from D.C." in getting Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin ousted. Shokin was investigating Burisma for corruption.
According to the source, Archer testified that on Dec. 4, 2015, Hunter Biden, Zlochevsky and Pozharski "called D.C." to discuss the matter. Archer testified that Biden, Zlochevsky, and Pozharski stepped away to take make the call.
It is unclear if Hunter and the Burisma executives spoke directly to Joe Biden on the matter.
At the time, though, Joe Biden was in charge of U.S.-Ukraine policy for the Obama administration.
A source said that Archer testified that just days later, on Dec. 9, 2015, Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine and made a speech. Biden, during the speech, said the government needed to fix the Ukrainian prosecutor's office.
"This is the most revealing aspect of Archer’s testimony and maybe the most important in our entire investigation so far," House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan told Fox News Digital.
President Joe Biden (L) and Hunter Biden (R) (Fox News)
The testimony comes after Fox News Digital first reported on an unclassified version of an FBI-generated FD-1023 form, which contained allegations that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden allegedly "coerced" Zlochevsky to pay them millions of dollars in exchange for their help in getting Shokin fired.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly lucrative role on the board receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin's firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.
Comer said that the December 2015 phone call from Biden, Zlochevsky and Pozharski to D.C. "raises concerns that Hunter Biden was in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act."
Federal prosecutors during Hunter Biden’s court appearance last week, in which he pled not guilty to federal tax crimes and a felony gun charge, hinted that the Justice Department is investigating Hunter for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Meanwhile, Comer said that Archer testified that Hunter Biden put then-Vice President Joe Biden on the speakerphone during business meetings over 20 times—despite the White House, and Biden himself, denying ever having been in business with Hunter or having ever been involved.
The phone calls and meetings, according to Archer, included a dinner in Paris with a French energy company and in China with Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners— a joint-venture between Rosemont Seneca and Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital. BHR Partners is a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited.
Archer also testified that then-Vice President Biden had coffee with Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR, in Beijing. Then-Vice President Biden even wrote a letter of recommendation for college for Li’s daughter.
Fox News Digital first reported that Biden wrote the recommendation letter last year.
Other "key" takeaways, according to Comer, included that Archer confirmed Joe Biden was referred to as "my guy" by Hunter Biden.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 31: Devon Archer (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Archer also testified that in the spring of 2014, then-Vice President Biden attended a business dinner with his son, Hunter, and his associates at Café Milano in Washington, D.C. Elena Baturina, a Russian oligarch who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, attended the dinner.
"Notably, the Biden Administration’s public sanctions list for Russian oligarchs does not contain Baturina," Comer’s office said.
The White House reacted to Archer's testimony Monday afternoon.
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"It appears that the House Republicans’ own much-hyped witness today testified that he never heard of President Biden discussing business with his son or his son’s associates, or doing anything wrong," White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital. "House Republicans keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any."
"In fact, even their own witnesses appear to be debunking their allegations. Instead of continuing to waste time and resources on this evidence-free wild goose chase, House Republicans should drop these stunts and work with the President on the issues that actually impact Americans’ daily lives, like continuing to lower costs, create jobs, and strengthen health care," Sams said.
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